From: pfennige@obs.unige.ch   
      
   Mike Miller wrote:   
   > henry@spsystems.net (Henry Spencer) wrote in message news:...   
   >   
   >   
   >>More recent landers, e.g. Mars Pathfinder, generally have *not* been   
   >>sterilized, because it is now fairly certain that conditions on the   
   >>Martian surface are so hostile that it's virtually impossible for Earth   
   >>organisms to survive and spread.   
   >   
   >   
   > Well, you learn something every day.   
   >   
   > Old: clean. New: sloppy. ;)   
   >   
   > Still, the end result is the same. Some terrestrial contamination has   
   > already made it to Mars.   
      
   Terrestrial contamination occurred over billions of years through   
   meteorite transfer Earth -> Mars along the reverse process that brings   
   Mars meteorites to Earth.  Micro-organisms do survive the transfer.   
      
   	Dan   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)